More about Forrest from Jenn

We’ve spent the last 3 days in a small town named Forrest, which is about 40km north from Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road.  It is a small town which has a long history of logging the forests. 

It had a railway line go through the town mainly for the purpose of transporting logs back to Melbourne.  For many years the logs were pulled out of the forests and along the rail-line to the station by draught horses which were bred in the area.

Some years ago the railway was closed and the forestry industry ceased in this area.  To try and “Re-invent” the township and draw tourists into the area they have built about 17 mountain biking trails which suit all levels of riders.  There is a multi-purpose rail trail and interpretative signage where the railway once was.

We’d heard about the area from many friends but were still surprised by the sheer delight of riding such purpose built trails.  The ones we have ridden so far have been fantastic.  You can ride the easier option on a trail or if your are an awesome MTB rider you could enjoy the optional log rides, large drop offs and super berms.

I’m really proud of the boys as they’ve ridden well on some tricky tracks and had a go at many obstacles I may of balked at had my 7 year old not just ridden it! 

The forest is beautiful too.  There is a real mixture of vegetation.  We found riding through swathes of kangaroo trees (Xantheria Australis) just magical but also enjoyed the dry eucalypt pathways fast and fun.  We haven’t seen a koala yet but hopefully we will in the next few days.  They say they are about but we haven’t been lucky enough to see them.

There was an Irish band playing at the local brewery yesterday and we wandered along and thoroughly enjoyed listening to the songs and watching the musicians as they played an electric guitar, electric banjo and electric fiddle(?).

Today we drove just 7km to Lake Elizabeth and tried to spot a platypus along the foreshore.  Instead we found plenty of people to chat to and the boys had a quick dip to cool down as we actually felt hot for the first time this trip!  Lake Elizabeth was an easy stroll and once again the forest was beautiful…lots of manferns and eucalypts so tall and straight they looked as if they were stretching out to touch the sky.  Jon rode back from the Lake on a track named “ The Red Carpet ” and said it was so “sweet” he wanted to ride it again!

Oscar cooling down in Lake Elizabeth 

Actually we would love to ride most of the tracks we’ve done again as they were just so much fun!  Our favourites have names such as: J2, Follow the Dog, Roller coaster, Forest Loop, Third Time Lucky, Vista and Barre Warre.

We’d recommend Forrest to any family who enjoys mountain biking, the outdoors and a relaxed camping style.  Thanks to the many families back in Launceston who recommended the town to us!    

Please don't forget to try and comment as Oscar has helped us to change settings and hopefully made it easier.  We'd love to hear from you!

Also, please don't forget Oscar's blog.  His blog is very easy to comment on. He is learning heaps about blogging by participating in a blogging challenge with school which has just started.  Thank goodness for our young IT consultant travelling with us! 


Jenn